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Is Sweden’s Television (SVT) white-washing anti-semitic salutes?

Publicerat den: 13 maj, 2014 - 16:34

Millions of Europeans viewed the Eurovision Song Contest last Saturday. The event was said to promote ”love” and ”tolerance”, but instead ended up being a display of hate-mongering and bullying of ”the others”. Even further anti-semitic salutes were allowed to pass unnoticed.

The Russian artists were not treated as two young girls at a song contest, but as political representatives of a country currently involved in a conflict with the USA and EU. Vulgar, chauvinistic comments – reminiscant of anonymous right wing haters’ rethoric about the non-European immigrants – were uttered about the Russian artists’ clothes by the Swedish mainstream media, even before the Saturday’s broadcast. This bigoted commentary would surely have been turned into praise had the girls exposed their bossoms while shouting ”Down with Putin!”

The Tolmachevy Twins

The Russian and Belarussian score announcers were given the cold shoulder, while their Kievan conterparts were greeted a warm welcome, despite commencing their announcement with a nationalist salute closely tied to the anti-semitic, nazi, Ukrainian forces from WWII.

The semantic meaning of the salute ”Slava Ukraini” is ”Glory to Ukraine”, is only seemingly uncontroversial – though it’s interesting to see blatant appraisal and marketing of certain brands of nationalism, even on Eurosong. It is very disconcerning that the salute was launched and used during the WWII by the pro-nazi collaborators under Stepan Bandera, who were driven by a frenetic hatred for Jews, Polish, Russians and Ukrainian anti-fascists -yet no one chose to distance themselves from this ”merry” message.

One can easily compare the Ukrainian announcer’s message to Europe to the Croatian footballer Josip Simunic’s actions after a match in Croatia. He took the on-court microphone and saluted the fans with: ”For the homeland!”, to which they responded with: ”Ready!”. Much like the affiliated ”Glory to Ukraine!” this salute was launched by the pro-nazi Ustasha regime in WWII, which was noted for it’s bestial politics towards Serbs, Jews, Roma and Croatian anti-fascists. Simunic was denounced among the public on Balkans, including in Croatia, while FIFA punished him with a block-out.

Section 1, Chapter 5 of the Swedish Radio and Television Act stipulates an obligation for the journalists of the Sweden’s Television (SVT) to denounce anti-democratic and racist messages. Instead of denouncing this nationalist and anti-semtic salute the raporters chose not to react at all. Does this mean that the SVT supports anti-semitism, but only when it’s used in the geo-political struggle against Russia? Or is this just a question of appaling ignorance?